Heat Haze: Before
by Empyreum
Summary: The story of the red eyes before the next story. (Or simply, a prequel)
1. Chapter 1: Red Irises

**Chapter 1: Red Irises**

I was surrounded by darkness, and yet, I could see. The floor was a pale grey and wavered back and forth, like a hot summer day in the middle of a traffic jam, with all the roofs of the vehicles ahead blurred and hazy. Strangely, I wasn't frightened by the dark like I usually would be, and turned to the left. Glaring straight into my eyes was a giant snake with red irises that glowed softly. And it was strange again, because I love snakes, or any reptile in general, yet this particular snake was instilling fear in me, making my legs freeze in place. Sweat trickled down my neck and palms.

I waited for the snake to lunge at me, but it continued to just stare at me. After staring back at the snake, I noticed something strange about his eyes. They weren't focused on me, rather, the snake was looking behind me. I whirled around.

There was another snake, exactly the same as the other, but this one... bore it fangs at me and struck.

...

"Hey, are you listening?" a voice snapped at me, pulling me back to reality. I rubbed my eyes and sat up on my chair.

I was in the university's cafe, and there was a large crowd of other students bustling in here, fixing their reports on their laptops or simply relaxing with some coffee and cake. The hue of the orange-brown walls was a bit too bright for my tastes, and the black curtains draped over the windows just didn't mix in well. I could pick up bits and pieces of idle conversations, the majority of them about roommates, classes, or relationships.

Stifling a yawn, I replied, "Sorry, sorry. I was up late yesterday with my essay." I picked up the coffee mug in front of me and took a sip. The coffee was bitter, the taste that adults adore, or so they say. As I placed the cup down, I asked, "So... what were we talking about?"

The girl to my right sighed and said, "The Legend of Medusa." She raised an eyebrow as she tucked a lock of her brown hair behind her ear and asked, "Is it something that bores you, Katsuya?"

"Well," I said, leaning on my left arm, "truthfully, I'm not all that interested." I looked to the left and grinned, "But I'm sure Kenjirou-kun here would love to listen in to your theories, Ayaka."

My comment surprised Kenjirou as he choked and coughed on his coffee. After he calmed down a bit, Kenjirou wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and smirked at me, "Do you know about it?" His eyes glared into and pierced my very soul, or at least it felt like that.

"Know about what?" I asked honestly.

Kenjirou studied my face for few seconds before turning away, nodding in satisfaction. "If you don't know, that's okay too."

"Eh, is that so?" I murmured as I turned to Ayaka, "By the way, congrats on your engagement!"

Kenjirou face-planted on the table exasperatedly, and I could see that his cheeks were flushed red. But more importantly, I wondered if his glasses were intact from that face-plant.

Kenjirou suddenly drew nearer to me and growled, "So you do know!"

He clutched at my shirt collar as I said, "Isn't that nice? You're going to marry the girl you love."

For a moment, Kenjirou kept quiet and let go of my shirt, muttering, "Yeah, you're right." He frowned, sighing, but he quickly broke into a wide smile.

"Gross," I uttered jokingly.

I remember how Kenjirou started off at the bottom of the mountain, having been called a "pathetic man" by Ayaka. That made him change his lazy and slovenly lifestyle, which I thought he would never fix, and got Ayaka's attention. Seeing that drastic change in him after getting accustomed to his sloth-like behavior since middle school was pretty inspirational.

I pulled out my iPhone and checked the time.

12:33 P.M. August 15.

A high-pitched beep sounded from the phone, reminding me that it was almost time for my next class. I finished my coffee and stood up, placing some money down on the table. "Gotta run," I said shortly, before smiling, "See you lovebirds again later." I didn't wait to see their reactions, and left the cafe.

It was nearing summer, and the days was gradually warming to a comfortable temperature. Birds and butterflies were everywhere outside and I couldn't take a single walk without hearing the rapping of chirping filling the air. I stopped to look at some flowers that were growing in the new flowerbed.

"Those are red irises, aren't they beautiful?" a voice asked from behind me.

I turned around as I replied casually, "Not as beautiful as you, Akane." Although that was something I always without a second thought, when I do get to that second thought, I'm constantly reminded about beautiful she really is. Her ink-black hair shone in the sunlight like strings of silk, reflecting an image of a dark flowing river. But her eyes drew me in more than anything else. Those dazzling caramel-colored gemstones of hers captivated me every time I looked at them.

Akane smiled at my response and said, "Let's go, else we'll be late for the lecture." She turned on her heel and started towards the large antique building on the edge of the campus grounds. I peeled my eyes away from the red flowers and followed after her.

"So," Akane spoke, "how'd your essay turn out?" She glanced to the side and looked into my eyes.

I avoided her gaze and replied, "Uh, well, I think it turned out pretty good. I really liked how I started it, at least."

We walked side-by-side, making small talk as we drew nearer to the gray-brown building that looked more like a cathedral that belonged in Europe rather than in a university.

And so, we attended class, listened intently, took notes, snoozed a bit (just me actually), and passed the time uneventfully. After what seemed like eternity, the lecture concluded and I sat up in my seat, stretching while a yawn escaped from my mouth.

"You done for the day?" I asked as Akane stopped by after packing her supplies.

"Yeah, we just have part-time now," she replied as I stuffed my pens and papers into my backpack.

I slung the rather light bag over my shoulders and said, "Well, let's get going."

We left the university's grounds and descended the hill the school sat on, overseeing the town below. They were like two different worlds; the university and the town. While the hill was surrounded by nature like a botanical preservation, the city was the perfect example of industrialization, with virtually everything run by machinery.

I hated coming into this town. The smog that resided here was disgusting and made me want to vomit all over a passing pedestrian. I held that urge though, since that would rude to the poor passerby.

Akane and I took shelter in a convenience store and greeted our co-workers in there. We went to the back room and put our belonging away and changed. Well,- Akane changed first and I waited outside. Once she was in her work clothes, I switched places with her.

As I pulled off my shirt, I noticed something putrid in the air. "What's this smell?" I sniffed the air a couple times, then sniffed my shirt. Shrugging, I slipped into my work uniform and stepped out.

But I dropped to the ground almost instantly the moment I walked out of the back room. My eyes started spinning and my head pounded as if there was an army of monsters inside beating against my brain, trying to get out. The air smelled like rotting eggs, and that made me realize; there was a gas leak.

_Damn it,_ I murmured inside my head. I beat myself mentally for not realizing the gas leakage.

With all my strength, I raised my head, and standing from a distance, was a figure robed in black. He looked like a phantom, his body flickering back and forth, like a hot summer day in the middle of a traffic jam With a smug smirk on his face, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit a flame. The figure in black tossed the still-flaming lighter into the store in a casual manner.

In that instance, the air burst aflame and enveloped me. Everything was bright red for only a moment. In an instance, everything faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2: Kagerou

**Chapter 2: Kagerou**

I opened my eyes in the convenience store, now scorched and blackened with ash. My muscles groaned as I pulled myself up, grabbing onto the countertop beside me for support. By now, my vision had cleared up, and it was only then I fully understood the magnitude of destruction that occurred here. The stands displaying whatever products on sale were knocked over, many of them broken and strewn across the store. The windows had shattered, and now bore sharp fangs of glass stained with black dust and red blood. The once tidy and white convenience store had become a black and ash-covered wreckage.

There was a figure standing outside, and with all the strength I could muster, I trudged over to the exit. I reached the door and pushed it, but with the slightest touch, it leaned forward and collapsed down to the pavement with a heavy, dull _thunk_.

"Akane," I mumbled weakly. I stepped forward, stumbling. My vision blurred in and out of focus, but I eventually made it a few feet away from Akane.

It was then that I noticed the sky, no, not just the sky, the entire city. Perhaps the entire world.

The sky was dyed in a madder of roses and the city was enveloped in a gray stone-like hue. There were scattered pieces of debris petrified, floating in the middle of the air. It was like being in a slow-motion scene, yet I was processing things at my normal speed.

I whirled around, panicking in confusion, "W-what is all this?!"

"It's the Heat Haze," Akane replied bluntly. "The never-ending world created by a Medusa."

Just as Akane said that, she turned and I immediately noticed her eyes. They weren't caramel-colored. Akane stared softly at me with her red irises, which glowed faintly.

Akane smiled and pointed to me, "Katsuya, you looked shocked, but you have the same eyes like me."

"Huh?"

I turned to a piece of glass on the ground, and reflecting back at me were my eyes, both of them a deep crimson.

"Now, what will you do?" a quiet voice asked from the other side of the street. Akane and I turned to see a short girl with a massive bundle of hair tied back in a ponytail by a red ribbon. She had scales protruding from the lower sections of her cheeks. The girl watched us intently with her unblinking eyes. They too were red.

Akane spoke up, "About that," she glanced at me for a moment and turned back to the girl, "I'll stay."

The girl smirked and murmured, "I see..." She raised her hand and, out of nowhere, a black snake shot out and struck at my face, widening its mouth, showing me its gleaming white fangs. Instinctively, I raised my arms to protect my head, but even still, I felt a piercing pain spark in my eyes, and I howled.

As my consciousness began fading away, I heard the girl's voice say, "In place of Akane Shibazakura, you will live on for her, and your innermost desire will be granted. Like you've always wanted, you will now be able to 'turn one's eyes away'."

And as I returned to darkness, I felt something inside me slither and curl up.


	3. Chapter 3: Snakes

**Chapter 3: Snakes**

I placed the worn-out book back onto its shelf as I sighed, unhappy with the amount of information I was salvaging. As I read through the titles of the rest of the books on the shelves, I heard a child say, "Hey Mommy, that man's wearing pink!"

And his mother immediately scolded, "Don't look at him, let's go." I turned and watched as the mother hurried her child out of the library.

I didn't blame them for the misunderstanding. It's not like every person would know the backstory of every stranger they run into, and it's not like every stranger is going to explain their backstory to every person they run into.

Gently, I pulled the wide hood of Akane's pink jacket. After that encounter with the petrified world with the red sky, I had woken up in the convenience store, which was black with ash and soot, just like in that other world. Somehow, the worst I sustained from the gas explosion was a severe burn from the right side of my torso, up to my shoulder, and all over my arm. With only my upper section of my body in critical condition, I dragged myself to the back room, which was relatively undamaged compared to the main portion of the store. I don't know why I went there, but I was glad I did. Because I went there randomly, I was able to salvage a piece of Akane, the jacket she always wore.

Shortly after retrieving Akane's jacket, I fell unconscious, and woke up in a hospital room a few hours later. It was kind of sickening, to see everything flushed in a stainless white, to smell the sterile scent in the air, to hear nothing but the soft beeping of the heart monitor that was hooked onto my body. There was no mistakes in the room. It was pure, clean. And that disgusted me.

Kenjirou and Ayaka came to visit. So did a bunch of my other friends.

I was grateful to them. It was boring to sit there without a thing to do.

Rather... I was more surprised at how well I was taking Akane's death. Was it because I was satisfied having a piece of her draped around me that I didn't feel regretful? I hope not.

Kenjirou and Ayaka had their marriage, so I attended it, my arm still in a pretty bad condition. I wore a cast around it to avoid getting it damaged further.

A few weeks later, my burns had healed and I was able to leave the hospital. But nowadays, I tend to wear clothing that has long sleeves. Sleeves long enough to hide my entire arm, including my hand. Ever since I left the hospital, I began to shy away from exposing my skin.

I pulled out another book and skimmed through it. I stopped at a specific page and read a short blurb of the text.

_Medusae are now believed to be an entire species of mythical creatures, rather than just one figure in mythology. Recent discoveries in archaeology suggest that during ancient times, Medusae once lived in harmony with mankind, though those records were in the form of legends. The newly found artifacts tell stories about the Medusae's eyes, and how they were passed down through a very abstract ritual._

I sighed. This was probably the most information I'd be able to find here. From here on, I'd need real professional notes. And I knew one person who I could turn to.

Ayaka.

I closed the book softly, producing a pleasant _thud_ sound which echoed weakly in the library. After sliding the book into place, I turned on my heels and left the deathly silent building and returned to the boisterous outside world. The sounds of people walking around and car engines humming filled up the silence, reminding me of how because we generally don't really give notice to these everyday sounds, true silence becomes fascinating, even frightening, to us.

Gripping my right arm, I stepped into the crowd and followed it until I reached the nearest bus stop. It took about six minutes for the bus to arrive, and apart from me, there were seven other people getting on.

I slipped my hood on, pushing off of the store wall behind the bus sign. I blinked a couple of times, and in a few seconds, I felt that strange surge rush into my eyes. I looked at the bus driver as the last two stepped up and payed the fee. The driver didn't even glance at me as I stepped into the bus. Even the other passengers were all looking away, out the window, down at their feet, or up at the roof. I took a seat in the back, which was empty.

Once I had gotten comfortable in my seat, I let out a soft exhale and gently closed my eyes. The strange sensation left my eyes as I reopened them. I turned to the window and stared out without much thought.

"It's already been five months, huh?" I murmured, tightening my grip on my arm.

About twenty minutes later, I left the bus. The driver gave me a strange look as I stepped off, probably because he didn't remember me coming into the bus.

The residential area was fairly peaceful, with only the birds and the occasional car or two driving by making sounds. I turned left and walked down to the end of the street.

I stopped in front of a house with the name plate bolted down next to the front gate. The surname "TATEYAMA" was printed in a fancy calligraphic writing. I pushed open the gate and walked over to the front door, which had an ancient aura yet at the same time seemed relatively new. I pressed the doorbell and stepped back, hearing the light tone ringing inside the house.

"Yes? Who is it?" Ayaka asked out politely as she swung open the door. As usual, she had her dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail and her right fringe of hair parted with two red hair-clips.

"'Hey, s'been a while since we last saw each other," I raised my left hand as a gesture of greeting.

Ayaka's eyes widened, "Katsuya!"

Just as Ayaka uttered my name, a slob of a man plodded across the hallway, yawning as he asked, "Ayaka, who is it?" He rubbed his eyes and straightened his glasses before turning to me. "If it isn't Katsuya! It's been forever since we last saw you!"

Though it was actually only about four or so months, I didn't correct him as I handed Ayaka a plastic bag I was carrying with my right hand. "Here," I said, "a little gift, though it's nothing much."

Kenjirou peeked inside and muttered, "Wow, it really is nothi—urf!" Kenjirou sputtered as he doubled over.

Ayaka smiled angelically as I stared at the elbow she stuck out behind her. She took the bag and replied, "Thanks." Ayaka stepped out of the way and held her arm out, "Come on in, Katsuya, make yourself at home."

"I'll take you up on that," I said, stepping into the foyer. As I slipped out of my outdoor shoes, Ayaka placed a pair of slippers out, which I put on as I stepped in.

I looked around. Their house was a generic, modern Japanese home. What else could I possibly say? But maybe...

"Hmm," I murmured in feigned admiration, "you guys got a nice place." I glanced around for any important-looking rooms as I asked, "Mind if I snoop around for a bit?"

Kenjirou picked himself from the floor and answered, "Yeah, go ahead. Just don't mess anything up." He narrowed his eyes at me and opened his mouth to speak, but quickly turned to check if Ayaka was behind him, before adding, "And don't take anything."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved him off as I started with the second floor. Kenjirou sighed softly as he returned to the living room.

I checked all the rooms. Most of them were storage rooms, but one was apparently acting as a library. I sniffed the air, which was a bit dry as I stepped in, getting a closer look at the books and documents.

Running my index finger over the spines of the books, I stopped upon a small yellow-tan file folder. Gently, I pulled it out and flipped open, skimming through its contents.

But after a few minutes of reading, I shut the folder and slid it back into place.

Nothing new.

Rather, the only thing of interest was a journal entry Ayaka wrote. Something about discovering a new aspect of the Medusae species. But there wasn't anything in the folder related to that 'new aspect', so it looked like I would have to ask Ayaka directly about that.

I grumbled quietly as I left the library. I descended the flight of stairs and strolled into the living room, where Kenjirou was lounging on the red sofa, sipping from a mug of coffee was he stared at the television.

"What do you do for a living again?" I asked Kenjirou, wondering why he was just lolling about.

Kenjirou placed his cup down on the little table in front of him as he murmured, "Hmm? Oh, I'm just a substitute teacher right now." He looked over his shoulder with a sheepish grin. "Ayaka's the one who has a stable job."

I looked to the kitchen, where Ayaka was brewing some more coffee. "Hey, Ayaka, how's your research going? Did you find anything new about the Medusae?" I thanked her as I took the coffee she offered and took a sip.

Ayaka smiled and raised her eyebrows, asking, "I thought you weren't interested in the legends?"

I grinned, "That was then, this is now." I shook the mug lightly as I added, "Besides, I've heard that there's been new discoveries recently. I thought that maybe you'd know about it." I glanced at Ayaka. She was staring up at the ceiling with a smile on her face, but it quickly drooped down.

"Have you heard about the Heat Haze?" she asked.

I looked up attentively at the mentioning of the 'Heat Haze'. Akane had called the petrified world of red skies that. Heat Haze.

"It's, you see," Ayaka began explaining, "a never ending world created by one from the Medusae race."

Ayaka continued on for a while, filling me in on somewhat unnecessary information along the way, but I listened in, not wanting to break her momentum.

But in short, this is what I got from Ayaka: The Heat Haze, created by a Medusa, is a small world that fills up space in another dimension, and wherever the Medusa created the Heat Haze, that would be where the center of that world would be. The day the Heat Haze was created would be vital to enter it. Say... August 15. The second requirement to enter the Heat Haze is death. Apparently, it's an inescapable world, though I know that's not true.

My guess is that in order to escape the Heat Haze, one must die with someone else, since Akane and I died at, pretty much, the same time.

Apparently, the Heat Haze was an ancient ritual in which Medusae used to grant upon their offspring something, as Ayaka referred to it. But that 'something' is still vague due to lack of artifacts discovered.

Although what I learned wasn't much, it was much more compared to what I've gathered at the libraries so far.

I felt a subtle vibration buzz in my pocket. I placed the mug down and dug around for my phone. On the display screen, the name, "Mitsuko Asuhara" glowed with a neon green and white tinge.

Kenjirou leaned over and read the name, grinning with his teeth showing as he asked, "Girlfriend?"

"No," I answered, shoving him back with my elbow. I looked out the window and mumbled, "She's... my kin." Without turning to Kenjirou as he gazed at me in confusion, I flipped open my phone and answered, "Yeah?"

"I found her," Mitsuko answered shortly. "The Eye of the Heat Haze."


End file.
